You’ve Gotta Try This Fresh Fundraising Idea at Your Studio

Fundraising for your studio can feel like pulling teeth. You’ve done the bake sales, the car washes, the candy bars. Why not try something new? In our September issue, we asked four owners for their freshest, most fun and, most importantly, most profitable fundraising ideas.

Here’s a fun one for your mini dancers:

Photo courtesy of Gardner

Get Your Glitter On

Tara Gardner

Dance Workshop (Performing Arts & Zumba Studio)

Greencastle, Indiana

75 students

When looking for ways to raise funds for her competition team members, owner Tara Gardner was in luck. One comp parent, a professional photographer, offered to take photos of kids at their own private glitter party. Parents could pay a flat fee for a 10-minute session and receive five digital, edited photos of their children blowing, tossing or raining down glitter.

Gardner put herself in charge of promoting the event (she created a Facebook event page and opened it up to the public) and gave other comp parents assignments, like scheduling each shoot, collecting payment, assisting the photographer, cleaning up the glitter and working shifts throughout the one-day event.

Costs and materials Glitter; studio space for the shoot; Gardner also provided lunch for the photographer.

Fees $45 for 10-minute sessions

Net proceeds $1,422 in six hours/$158 for each competition team dancer

Word to the wise Gardner opened up the photography sessions to nonstudio kids to reach a bigger pool of customers. “We had them done in time for Valentine’s Day—they make great gifts,” she says.